Judo is the youngest compulsory sport in the Summer Universiade programme. It was presented as an optional sport at the 1967 Summer Universiade in Tokyo and turned into a compulsory sport as from the 1999 Summer Universiade.

The official history of judo in Russia began in the 1960s. A section of judo was opened in the USSR Sambo Federation, and our country became a member of the European Judo Union. Soviet samboists immediately took part in the competitions for a medal in a new form of combat. And at the European Championship in 1962 Andzor Kiknadze and Andzor Kibratsashvili won two gold medals.
1964. At the Olympics in Japan an absolute result was reached: all four participating athletes won bronze medals.
In 1992 in Barcelona Elena Petrova, an athlete from Saint Petersburg, won a bronze medal, and in 2000 in Sydney, Lubov Bruletova from Perm won a silver medal.
Today judo is continuing to develop and becoming more and more popular in Russia. The annual Moscow international tournament, which is the 'superclass' competition, was recognised worldwide. Each year the strongest athletes from all over the world come to wrestle on its tatami. The Russian President's Cup is an important step towards judo's development.
The Russian Judo Federation is a member of the European Judo Union that is also included in the International Judo Federation as its continental subdivision.

Russia's pride in this sport is Shota Chochishvili (July 10, 1950 - August 27, 2009), an outstanding Soviet judoka, the first Soviet athlete who became the Olympic champion in 1972. Shota Chochishvili was a multiple winner of the World Judo Championships and European Championships, Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR (1972), Knight of the Order of Merit.

Speaking about the largest judo competitions that were held in the Republic of Tatarstan, we should mention the one that took place in 2011. The Russian Judo Championships took place in Kazan. 23 judokas – 13 male and 10 female athletes – defended Tatarstan's honour at the tournament. Our athletes won two bronze medals, and both went to Maria Shekerova, a participant of the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics, who moved to Kazan from Uzbekistan several years ago.